Monday, November 21, 2016

When I was a child one of the Christmas cookies my Mom would make each year was something she called, "Pomander Balls", a no-bake cookie made from crushed Nilla Wafers and melted chocolate chips together with sugar and orange extract. The recipe has since been a favorite of most of our extended family and especially of my husband and daughter.

This is my version of Pomander Balls, which I respectfully re-name "Chocolate Orange Truffle Cookies" since they aren't exactly the same.

Blend everything together and shape into balls about the size of a walnut or about 3/4" diameter. Roll in crumbs such as cookie crumbs or nuts.

Store for up to 4 weeks in airtight container in refrigerator. If they seem dry, occasionally sprinkle with more Grand Marnier as they mature.

Good luck having any at Christmas unless you hide them.

Note: The goal is to have a crumb mixture that holds together when squeezed so you may have to bump up the moisture by adding more of any or all of the wet ingredients. Today I had to add a lot more moisture because the air is so dry. Makes about 32 cookies. (Hard to tell since someone kept snitching as I was making.)

First, place all fruit into large bowl and cover with alcohol such as rum or bourban, or use one cup of rum and toss every so often. Let soak for several hours or overnight.
Keep in mind you can use whatever dried fruits and nuts you prefer. This is what I am using this year:

In large measuring cup, combine applesauce, pineapple juice, almond extract, yogurt and any rum that can be drained off fruit. Set aside.

In large bowl combine all dry ingredients. Set aside.

In larger mixing bowl beat vegan butter until soft and add sugars, continue beating for 1 minute. Add egg substitute (dry powder and water mixed according to package directions) and continue beating for 30 seconds. Add small amounts of wet and dry ingredients alternating until all flour mixture and applesauce mixture has been combined with butter/sugar mixture.

Fold all fruit and nuts into batter. Spoon gently into prepared loaf pans. Bake at 325° for 1 hours. Loaves should be golden brown and have pulled away from sides of pans.
Keep cooled cakes wrapped in cheesecloth or cotton flour sack towel soaked in your favorite rum or brandy for a few weeks before Christmas.

Once you have a good base recipe for the cake part, you can use whatever dried fruit and nuts you prefer. Just don't use candied fruit—I think that is what gives fruitcake such a bad reputation.

7 medium size fruitcakes cooling on wire rack

At the last minute before baking we decided to top them off with maraschino cherries

Soak towel in rum and store in airtight container or gallon ziplock bag until Christmas/New Years.

Saturday, November 19, 2016

On Thanksgiving, I can forego everything but the stuffing. We began eating a plant based diet just a few weeks before Thanksgiving the year we started this and what a holiday to not be able to sit down and eat the traditional meal. So it was essential for me to find a way to have a stuffing that tasted as close as possible to my recipe of cornbread stuffing with wild rice and sausage, the recipe for stuffing that became our standard after working on it for years.

The new plant based version is very similar, a combination of the stuffing I grew up with, cornbread stuffing, and the stuffing my husband likes--wild rice and sausage. This version leaves out the diced boiled eggs, diced gizzard, heart and turkey broth and meat from the neck that I used to boil and include.

You know what? I actually like this version better.

Cornbread Stuffing

Recipe:1 batch cornbread from a plant-based, no added fat recipe prepared and cooled (can be made a day ahead, I always do it the night before--it's a tradition)2 cups long grain and wild rice mix such as Rice a Roni Nature's Way prepared without oil but do use the seasoning packet2 cups vegan sausage substitute like textured soy, as low fat as possible (or see recipe below)4 stalks celery, diced1 cup soy curls, rehydrated with 3/4 cup hot not-chicken bouillon and diced into 1/2" pieces1/3 cup walnuts (toasted) and chopped coarsely2 cloves garlic finely diced1 can sliced water chestnuts drained and chopped very coarsely2 tsp. dried rubbed sage or poultry seasoning1/2 cup fresh parsley2 cups broth (mushroom, vegetable or not-chicken bouillon stock)Cut cornbread into 1/2" cubes and set aside.Sauté celery and garlic in nonstick skillet,add broth and cook until garlic is tender.Toss all ingredients in large bowl. You may need to add more broth to make sure stuffing is moist but not saturated, then transfer to baking dish, 9x13 or similar. Cover with foil or casserole lid and bake at 325 degrees farenheit for 60 minutes.

Stuffing is even better the second day! Serving suggestion: sprinkle dried cranberries over the top of each serving. This is ideal stuffed into large mushroom caps and baked until mushrooms are tender in a covered casserole with a little vegetable broth.

Bake or fry veggie bacon and crumble, set aside.sau·té mushrooms until golden brown to sweat out extra moisture.Combine VeganEgg powder and almond milk in magic bullet or other micro-blender with mustard, nutritional yeast, tapioca, seasoning and garlic. Place tofu in bowl and crumble with fork, then combine with VeganEgg mixture. Add all other ingredients including bacon and spinach by folding in. Place in pie shell, sprinkle with smoked salt, vegan cheese, nutritional yeast and paprika. Bake for 45 minutes to one hour or until knife comes out clean when inserted into center of pie.
375 degrees f.

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Puff Pancake. Take out of the oven at 35 minutes and dust with powdered sugar and lemon zest.

Dutch Babies are a unique pancake that celebrates the egg and what it can do under the right circumstances. Normally it puffs up to several times the size of the batter in a hot oven.
We used to make them a lot when our daughter was young and loved the taste and the show of them. After we stopped eating things with a face or a mother I never even tried to make one but it is one of the breakfast items I have missed. The new egg replace product, "VeganEgg" is so different that I just had to try and make Dutch Babies again—but I was skeptical that it would work.
Fortunately, it turned out surprisingly well.

2 cups non-dairy milk (I used cold coconut milk or almond milk from a carton—not the canned variety) Why? less fat2 ounces soft silken tofu (or regular tofu blended with some of the non-dairy milk from this recipe in a microblender such as a Magic Bullet)1 teaspoon almond extract--don't skip, important flavor1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Then sprinkle in the dry ingredients and blend immediately:

1/4 cup VeganEgg powder1/2 cup flour such as Bob's 10 grain or coconut flour, or your favorite type2 tablespoons Low Fat Bisquik3/4 teaspoon salt
After batter is ready, remove ramekins or pull out oven rack to where you can pour the batter into them. Place 1 tablespoon vegan butter in each ramekin right before pouring in the batter along with a quick spray from your can of spray canola or other oil to coat the inside of each ramekin. Let melt--it should only take seconds.
Pour 1/4 of the batter into each hot ramekin as quick as you can after placing the vegan butter and a bit of spray oil in each. Bake for 20 minutes and then turn the heat down to 375 and continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Dust with powdered sugar and a squirt of lemon juice.